Inevitable
by Merl Laurence
Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic. COMPLETE
1. The Race

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<br>A/N: _Inevitable_ runs independent of the events that occurred in 1.23 and 1.24, because I just can't deal. Aargh.

Chapter 1 – The Race

# # #

Kapiolani Beach Park  
>Honolulu, Oahu<p>

Kono let herself study her boss openly as he and her cousin Chin, began to plan out the route. She took her time stretching her long, toned limbs as she sat on the cool grass observing Steve, wondering where such a spontaneous idea would have come from. After all these months of working together, it admittedly felt good to do something fun as a way to further strengthen the team's bond. They were after all, now an _ohana_. That's why it took her by surprise when late yesterday afternoon, Steve suggested a pre-work, foot-race through Waikiki.

Looking up at Steve, Kono had to arch a brow, feeling the familiar itch of competition. "Boss? What, you think you're ready? If you don't stretch properly, you're going to get a cramp," she advised.

Steve, sensing Kono's exuberance, couldn't help but grin at her. "I'm good Kono, I stretched before I got here," he added.

"Suit yourself, but what about you Cuz?" she asked Chin then, as she stood.

Chin's eyes crinkled as he smiled, "oh, I don't need to."

Kono shifted her weight onto one foot and crossed her arms across her chest. "Oh, really?" she asked, intentionally drawing out the last part.

"I'm not racing you guys," Chin said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Kono laughed. "Why not? Cuz, don't tell me you chickened out here," she said.

Chin shook his head and smirked at her. "I've got nothing to prove," he said sagely.

She laughed again. "What? That's B.S. Cuz."

"No, it's not," Chin said gesturing towards her. "_I know_ you can run faster than me," he stated simply. "I don't need a race to tell me that," he said smiling.

His younger cousin eyed him curiously. "Huh." She turned to look at Steve.

Steve put his hands up in mock surrender. "I had nothing to do with his decision," he said. As Kono scrunched her face up in disbelief, he added, "for some reason he thinks he doesn't want to race me either, said something about a sore ankle."

Kono glared at Chin. "What the hell, Cuz?"

Chin laughed back at her. "Look, you guys can just race each other. The lagoon's pretty far you know, and I'm pulling seniority on you two."

"Oh, please," said Kono. "Bad enough, Danny goes and volunteers to take Grace to school today, even though it's not his day. Now you're backing out too?" she asked. "Fine... _chicken,_" she goaded.

Chin inclined his head and just smiled back at her. He turned to Steve then and arched a brow, challenging him to talk trash at him as well, but the younger man just shrugged and shook his head. His father's former partner nodded and changed tactic. "Don't be afraid of her Steve," Chin gestured to Kono. "You can take her," he added and their boss couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey!" Kono exclaimed. "What about about _family_?" she asked.

"Cluck, cluck," said Chin smugly. "My money's on Steve," he added.

Kono started to protest, but Chin put up a hand to silence her.

"So, we race to the lagoon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village?" Steve asked, getting them back on track.

"First one to 'high-five' Kamekona, wins," Chin said.

Kono laughed again. "Fine then, it's on," she said, playfully glaring at Steve.

Steve arched a brow at her and smirked confidently, crouching down and readying himself to take off.

# # #

Honolulu International Airport  
>Oahu<p>

Jimmy Medieros was at most times, a discerning man. But, the women in SoCal, though beautiful and sexy, were quite frankly, a pain in his ass. Always asking for more perks, more pay, continually whining, complaining and downright skanky. He knew what he needed. He needed fresh faces, beautiful – exotic, island faces, who had no bounds to their desperation.

"Mr. Medieros? Welcome to Hawaii," greeted the young woman at the terminal. She placed a lei around Jimmy's head and smiled brightly. He smiled appreciatively back at her and openly admired her tan features, brown eyes, full lips and sun-kissed, wavy, brown hair. He felt a small pang at realizing how much he'd missed Hawaii.

"Thank you, beautiful – _Nani_," Jimmy said, noting her name tag. His smile widened.

# # #

Kapiolani Beach Park  
>Honolulu, Oahu<p>

"Ready?" Chin asked and the pair nodded. "Set... go!" he yelled as he watched Kono and Steve take off northwest of their location at the park. He shook his head and pulled out his cell phone to let Kamekona know that they would be on their way soon.

Sprinting past the back entrance to Honolulu Zoo and turning right, up Waikiki Avenue, Steve and Kono were neck and neck. She could tell that he couldn't help his smile as she glanced at him. Kono found herself giggling as they bolted past the Duke Kahanamoku statue and dodged early morning tourists out on the sidewalk. They continued running, past the Moana Surfrider, then past the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center and then the Sheraton. Kono sped up and Steve found himself digging deep to keep up with her. She made an abrupt left turn down Beach Avenue and almost lost him.

"Hey! A little warning Kono," Steve said, chuckling, unable to hide his enjoyment.

"Just trying to keep you on your toes, Boss," Kono responded as she continued on, a brilliant smile on her face.

She glanced over at him again and noticed his smile fade as something caught his attention in front of them. As Kono followed his gaze, she noticed an elderly woman in a bright _muumuu_ stalled on her side of the walkway. "_Tutu_ up ahead," Steve pointed out, as he automatically placed a hand on Kono's lower back to guide her around. They both found themselves smiling warmly at her as they ran past and she waved them away, causing them both to laugh and shake their heads.

Bolting through Fort Derussy Beach Park and towards the beach walk, they were now in the home stretch. It became difficult to continually dodge the tourists and Steve found himself almost stumbling a few times. He just laughed at himself and shook his head in amazement as he looked at Kono, who showed no signs of tiring. When they saw the Hilton up ahead, it seemed as if both runners received a well timed jolt of energy.

Just around the Rainbow Tower, they knew the lagoon waited, along with their shaved-ice-king friend, Kamekona. They came up fast, turning the corner right before the lagoon, Steve and Kono could see Kamekona standing there. The giant Hawaiian, with his broad, gentle smile, held up both his hands, almost fearfully, as he watched the two 5-0 teammates barrel towards him. Steve looked to be leading by a few steps, but he stumbled and both runners hit Kamekona's outstretched hands simultaneously.

"Oh! I so had you, Boss!" Kono said as she slowed and started jumping in mild indignation. A huge grin on her face as she breathed heavily.

Steve came to a slow stop and ambled back to where Kamekona stood and laughed out loud. "No, you didn't, Kono," he said smirking, as he paced to cool himself down. "If I didn't trip, I would have been the clear winner," Steve added between fairly large gulps of air.

"Oh, please," Kono shook her head as she walked up to him and Kamekona. "Kamekona? What do you think? I had him, clearly, right?" Kono asked.

Kamekona shook his head and laughed. "No way, sistah, no. You ain't ever going to get me to comment on this one. Let's just say it was tied," Kamekona said diplomatically. He noticed Chin walking up to them and asked, "Chin Ho? What do you think? You think little cousin woulda won?"

Chin shook his head. "Well, seeing as how my previous bet on McGarrett is now negated because of a tie... I refuse to comment," he said. "Besides -"

"Hold up, Cuz?" interrupted Kono. "You actually had money on us?" she asked, incredulously. She looked at Steve who smirked and then shrugged. "And you knew?" she added, pointing towards Steve. "I thought you guys were kidding?"

Steve shook his head and laughed again. "I... actually have no excuse for that," he said, gesturing towards Kamekona and Chin. He shrugged matter-of-factly and smiled at her, reaching out to quickly squeeze her shoulder.

"Did anybody have money on me?" Kono asked, smirking back at Steve.

The three men remained silent, Steve rubbed the back of his neck and looked towards the ground. Chin and Kamekona suddenly found really interesting things to study along the lagoon and ocean front.

"Really?" Kono flat out guffawed. "Holy shit, you guys suck... wow," she said.

She swatted at her cousin.

"Hey!" Chin said, his eyes crinkling as he started to laugh.

She punched Steve in the arm... hard.

"Ow! Hey!" he said. Kono glared at him, not entirely serious. His blue eyes softened a little as he smiled an apology to her. "I guess we deserved that," he amended.

Turning with a satisfied smirk to Kamekona, who was now backing up, she arched a brow at him and launched herself at him. She hugged the big guy and giggled. "So how much did I get?" she asked eagerly.

"Wait," Steve said, holding up a hand, a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "You didn't..." he trailed off.

"Bet against the race?" she asked, smiling impishly. "Oh, yeah," she said, her eyes twinkling. "I knew you guys were putting money on it the moment you guys even suggested it. I also knew we were going to tie."

Chin scoffed and Steve's mouth dropped.

"So it was all just an _act_?" Chis asked his younger cousin. "You're holier-than-thou - _you guys put money on the race?_ - was all just an _act_?"

Kono nodded and smiled. "Hey, the money goes to a good cause," she added.

"What, you're pocket book?" Chin asked, still surprised at Kono.

"Ooh, all of the sudden so snarky Cuz? Who even has a pocket book nowadays? That's what you get for betting against me," she said back with sass. "For your information, I've got a little fund growing for a beginning surfboard for one Grace Williams," she explained with a smile.

"That's nice, Kono," Steve interrupted. "But, how did you know we were going to tie?" he asked, a little perplexed, and getting back to what was really bothering him.

"I threw the race," she answered simply.

"Wait," Steve said, almost choking on his own saliva. "You _threw_ the race? As in, you-would-have-had-me, but you decided to go easy on me?" he asked, clearly surprised.

Kono just shrugged and gave him a dimpled smile.

Steve gestured with his hands and shook his head. "You _threw_ the race?" he asked again, closing his eyes briefly in disbelief.

"Yeah," Kono replied laughing. Soon Kamekona and Chin joined in.

It finally made sense to Steve why she looked so sunny and at ease during their foot-race down Waikiki Avenue. He shook his head again and grinned at Kono, his own eyes starting to twinkle. "Your cousin played us Chin," he said looking at the older man.

Chin grinned too, shaking his head again. "That she did, Boss," he confirmed as he turned towards Kamekona to give him the money he owed.

Steve laughed and turned to Kono, who had crossed her arms across her front, inadvertently causing the strap of her tank top to fall off her shoulder. She was smiling, but as Steve reached out to casually lift the strap back into place, something shifted in her gaze and he quickly pulled his hand away. Following her line of vision, he saw Danny walking towards them, followed by Catherine.

# # #

A/N: So, I have to say, I will be one of those writers who may go the whole summer, avoiding the events that occurred at the end of the season one. Let's just say, I'm still pasting back together any brain matter that was blown apart because of it. I will just continually play with the idea of KoVe quietly to help get me through to the fall and I hope other fans of this pairing enjoy.

A few other things: I know the street that runs through Waikiki is Kalakaua Ave., and seeing as how it's also Kono's last name, I decided to change it because it just seemed odd to me. And truthfully, I didn't want to deal with any queries about "haha, it's the same name?" Also, _muumuu_ (pronounced: moo-ooh-moo-ooh) is basically a fancy house dress that is usually made with bright, Hawaiian floral print material and _tutu_ (pronounced: too-too) means grandmother/elderly woman.


	2. The Bad Guy

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

Thanks for the response everyone! Really nice to see comments/reviews, alerts and faves already! So encouraging!

Chapter 2 – The Bad Guy

# # #

Hilton Hawaiian Village  
>Oahu, Hawaii<p>

"So who won?" Danny asked, as he squinted against the sun. He walked towards his teammates and Kamekona as they gathered on the edge of the Hilton's lagoon.

"They tied," explained Chin.

"Huh, I woulda put my money on the rookie," Danny said with a wink towards Kono.

Kono laughed in response as Chin and Steve exchanged knowing glances, eventually chuckling too.

"Uh," began Danny, pulling them all back to the present. It was then that everyone noticed that Catherine held back. "Steven? I believe you know this beautiful woman here?" he asked as he ushered her forward. "I, uh... she came to the offices looking for you," he explained.

Steve smiled as he walked over to Catherine. "Yeah, uh, everybody this is Lt. Catherine Rollins," he said as he officially introduced her. After exchanging greetings among themselves, the team and Kamekona made excuses to leave so that Steve and Catherine would have alone time.

"How about, you get me a giant cup of iced-tea, Cuz?" Kono asked as they walked off.

"How about you buy it yourself? Since you cleaned out my wallet?" they heard Chin ask back.

Steve turned towards Catherine and smiled again, but was surprised to find her studying him.

"What?" he asked.

"That's what you guys do when you're not working on a case?" she asked back.

Steve shrugged as he looked back towards his departing teammates, he caught a smirk from Kono and turning back to Catherine, he grinned. "No, not all the time.

She arched a brow and gave him a wane smile.

"Anyway, what's up?" he asked as he moved in to wrap his arms around her.

"Ew, Steve, you're kinda gross right now," she said as she pulled out of his grasp.

Steve shrugged, slightly annoyed. "Fine, what do you want? I was going into the office after this," he explained.

Catherine visibly bristled at the change of tone in his voice. "We ship out today," she explained.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay?"

"Yeah, what would you like me to say?" he asked.

"I just thought maybe if you got off of work early, we could have dinner before I'm gone for the next few months?" Catherine asked hopefully.

Steve nodded and pulled at his sweat soaked t-shirt. "Yeah, that sounds good," he added. "I kind of need a shower," he stated, flashing her with a charming smile.

"And let me guess, you're looking for some company?" she asked smiling coyly in return as she arched a brow again.

Steve winked and grabbed her hand and started walking towards the garage where his truck was parked. At that moment her phone rang and she pulled her hand away as she stopped to answer. After a few clipped, 'yes sir, no sirs,' Catherine hung up and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Rain check?" she asked without further explanation.

"On the shower? Yeah," he nodded as he took her hand again, but she stalled. "What? And tonight too?" he asked.

Catherine nodded. "Well, maybe," she added. "It depends on how much the crew can get done for prep this afternoon, but I'll call you?" she asked, clarifying the situation.

Steve shrugged as they started back to his truck.

# # #

Five-0 HQ  
>Honolulu, Oahu<p>

"What've you got Danny?" Steve asked a half hour later as he walked in to join the team at the computer table.

"Jimmy Medieros, major crystal meth dealer with a thing for pretty women is going to be in town. Part of the uh, Tijuana Cartel," Danny explained. "He was flagged on a flight manifest leaving San Diego, bound for Hawaii and was conveniently let through."

"What's he doing here? I thought most of the meth or ice, in the islands came from Asia," noted Kono.

"Not anymore," added Chin. "Most of the ice we get now is made in California or Mexico."

"And we think Jimmy's bringing a little gift to the islands?" asked Steve.

"Maybe," said Chin. "Turn's out Jimmy's a local boy. Which could explain why he was allowed through airport security so easily."

"Alright, Kono, find out what you can about Jimmy," instructed Steve.

"You got it," she said as she took off for her office.

"What I don't get is, the Tijuana Cartel? I mean, recently, there are scores of dealers, and henchmen showing up dead along the borders of Mexi-Cali, why would he leave?" questioned Chin. "How could he?"

"Maybe he's bringing something in, obviously not on himself but some other way. A man like that wouldn't travel just for fun, you know what I mean?" pointed out Danny.

"I got some friends in the San Diego PD that are expats of HPD. They still talk to me, let me call them," suggested Chin as he left for his office.

"Danny," Steve started. "Let's look at possible mules flying in from either southern California of Mexico.

Some moments later, Chin popped out of his office and walked up to them. "I got nothing," he said, sounding disappointed. "The boys in SDPD said as far as they knew, the Tijuana Cartel was on it's way to being defunct. Medieros is not even a flight risk. They could care less about him," he said frustrated.

"Hey," Steve said. "You think someone got to them?"

Chin shook his head, agitated. "Oh, I know someone did."

"Yeah well, finding a mule is almost like finding a needle in a haystack," Danny said, sounding equally discouraged.

"I think you guys should see this," Kono said as she walked up to the computer table. "Medieros is an extremely common name in Hawaii, I figured I was going to be at it for days," she said as she started typing. "But Jimmy, it seems, comes from the largest branch of Medieros' in the islands. And it looks like his own family suffers from Ice abuse. Majorly," she said as she swept her hands across the table, causing images of multiple people to pop up on the screens. "Grandmother, mother, auntie, uncle, sister, nephew..." Kono stopped. "It's really messed up."

"He's selling the drug that's wiping out his whole family?" asked Steve.

Kono nodded. "Yeah, but get this. According to a social worker, Jimmy got shipped off to relatives in Southern California at the age of thirteen. So what they were using wasn't coming from him, directly, anyway."

"I don't get it, so then, he's got nothing to do with what's going on in his family?" asked Danny.

"Yeah, talk about 'poetic justice'," added Kono. "It's so sad and unfortunately it doesn't help us with why he's here."

"Did any of his relatives die recently, Kono?" asked Danny.

She shook her head. "No," she said chewing on her thumbnail, deep in thought.

Chin's cell phone rang and he stepped away to take it while the other three continued to look at reasons why Medieros was in Hawaii. When he came back to them, he said, "he's looking for mules and selling ice as well."

"You're sure?" asked Steve.

"Yeah, that was someone at SDPD, he just never said when I called, because I called him at the station. And wouldn't you know, he thinks they have a mole too," he supplied.

"You trust him?" asked Danny.

Chin shrugged. "We don't have anything else to go on. I was told that his mules aren't your average types either. Medieros likes models. Young, beautiful... desperate, you get the idea. My guy in SDPD thinks he's here hoping to sell some ice and get some island beauties in return."

"Well then we gotta be the first to broker a deal and get him put away," stated Steve. The team nodded in agreement. "Chin, Danny, you guys get in touch with HPD, we've got to figure out Jimmy's next move," he said.

As the guys started to move, Kono asked, "and me, Boss?"

Steve grinned at her. "We're going undercover," he said.

Kono arched a brow.

"But first, I think we need some shaved-ice," he said.

# # #

Wailoa Shave Ice Stand  
>Ala Moana Beach Park, Oahu<p>

"Kamekona? I'll have a grape please," Kono ordered as she came up to the service window. Kamekona's face lit up with a smile.

"Shoots Kono, and for you? My haole braddah?" the big guy asked Steve.

"I'm good," Steve said, declining the offer for the tropical treat. "But, we do have a question for you."

"Oh really? And here I was, thinking that maybe you two stopped messing around and decided to actually go out on a date," Kamekona said.

Kono shifted and blushed lightly while Steve looked at Kamekona curiously. He took the purple colored, snow-cone from him and handed it to Kono. Steve smirked at her and she rolled her eyes at him, causing his smirk to turn into a full blown smile.

"Let me ask you something... if I took Kono out on a date, what makes you think I would bring her here?" Steve asked, suddenly chuckling as he turned to look back at Kamekona.

"Eh, ain't nothing wrong with some shaved-ice as dessert. She likes the grape, brah," Kamekona said, defending himself as he gestured to Kono who by now had dissolved into giggles.

Steve shook his head.

"You said you had a question for me?" Kamekona asked, bringing them back to the situation that required his help.

Steve looked at Kamekona then, but it was Kono who spoke. "What can you tell us about the _other_ kind of ice?"

"This have something to do with Jimmy Medieros?" Kamekona asked, his voice low.

"Yeah," Kono said, clearly surprised. "How did you -"

"I kinda heard he was coming," Kamekona said, interrupting her. "Yeah, I know something, but you have to do me a favor," he said, appearing to grow angrier as they spoke.

"Whoa, what is it big-guy?" Steve asked, suddenly concerned about their friend.

"You get rid of him and his trash forever, and as many like him as you can," Kamekona said, earnestly.

Kono reached through the order window to lay a hand on his arm. "What is it, Kamekona?" she asked.

The big man got serious and shook his head sadly. "I've seen too many people... my people, family and friends suffer from the effects of such and addictive drug as ice. I would like it gone from the islands," he said, nodding. "For good."

"Alright, Kamekona," Steve said. "Whatever we can do now - " he started before Kamekona cut him off.

"Yeah, I know. It'll help, but it won't make it completely go away, I know. But I can hope," he said. He shook his head and sighed. "You guys like clubbing?" he asked, getting back to business.

# # #

A/N: I would just like to say that I really appreciate the welcome back and that I hope you all enjoy what I have in store for you all. Thank you rice117, annaliesegrace, sphekie, CaffeineKiddo, Mary for the words of encouragement. amblue36 (Amy) - I actually do have a bit of Steve whump coming up; Froggie2, loveoverduty, zebraboymom, sammie28 - Kono's going to be more than sneaky and strong in this fic, I hope you like! cdnyellowrose (Heather) - I was thinking, how bout we gather a whole bunch of fellow KoVe fans in denial, tie our inner tubes together, drag a cooler of beer behind us on our trip down said river? No use us going it alone right? Haha.

P.S. My experience writing drug deals, etc. and anything that goes along with it (including fight scenes) is minimal. So, I'd like to ask you all to _suspend your belief_ a little bit more during those particular scenes. I figured that's not a lot to ask since we're talking about FanFic after all. Haha. Plus, anything I know and incorporated into the story is the result of some quick research through Google. ;)


	3. The Undercover Op

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

Apologies, first of all, for taking so long with an update. Work, work, work! Boo. Boo. Boo.

Many thanks again for all the support – reviews/comments, fave adds, and update adds, they totally matter! Thanks for the laugh _Sammie28._Whoo! If I did have the experience, than I would be a ninja pastry chef! :)

Chapter 3 – The Undercover Op

# # #

Five-0 HQ  
>Honolulu, Oahu<p>

The moment Steve stepped back into his office upon their return from Wailoa Shaved-Ice his iPhone started ringing. Checking the caller ID, he answered, "Cath?"

_"Hi Steve, are we still on for dinner?"_

"Hey... uhm, no. I can't, we've got a case," he said as started to gather his things.

_"Well, that kind of sucks. We worked really hard so that some of us could do some last minute things before shipping out."_

"I'm sorry, Cath."

_"Are you going to be tied up for a long time?"_

"I don't know, we're going to have to go undercover," he explained.

_"'We' who?"_

"Myself and Kono," Steve replied.

_"Oh."_

"What? C'mon Cath."

_"Don't 'c'mon Cath' me, I have right to be disappointed, Steve. She's a lucky girl."_

"Right," he said, rolling his eyes.

_"I'm only saying that because I wish it was me that got to spend tonight with you... and might I add, I'll also be gone for quite some time."_

"I know, look, when you get back, we'll get together, okay?" he said, trying to appease her. He could hear Catherine sigh on the end of the line.

_"Maybe. But I have to admit, all I'm going to remember is that you don't seem so torn up about the fact that you don't get to see me before I go. I'm beginning to resent the fact that one of your team members is a woman."_

"Jesus Cath, now is not the time for you to become jealous. You know it's not like that," Steve said, sounding irritated. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I've gotta go, they're waiting for me," he said, hoping to end the conversation.

_"You're right Steve, it's not like we're a couple or anything right?"_

"Cath," he said warningly. "You didn't want to put a label on us remember?"

_"Right, I didn't. So I'll talk to you later. Goodbye, Commander."_

The line went dead and after Steve pulled the phone away from his ear, he couldn't help but stare at it.

# # #

Two Coconuts Nightclub  
>Lewers Street, Oahu<p>

Steve stood in the shadows, watching Kono dance to the pounding music.

She wore a black satin, backless dress that was almost obscenely, too short. Her red snakeskin, four inch heels made her tan, long legs appear to go on for miles up under her dress. And the way she moved – slow and sultry, as if she was in a drug induced trance. Ironically, it helped with their cover even more.

Steve's eyes raked blatantly over her as she swayed, twisted and arched, sensually in front of their target. It was pretty obvious that Jimmy Medieros was enjoying himself immensely, as he too watched Kono dance herself nearer to him. Early on in their meeting with Medieros, Steve and Kono realized that she would be the key to their success. It irked the hell out of Steve that Jimmy took such an interest in her, but without her, apparently, there would be no meeting. Medieros' obvious and immediate crush on Kono facilitated the meeting itself, if not the deal.

Steve watched as Jimmy reached out his hands and rested one of them on Kono's hip and the other on her opposite leg. He consciously found himself fighting a sudden irrational urge to pull her away from the leering drug lord. And before Steve realized what he was doing, he found himself positioned on the edge of the dance floor, somehow in the process, having yanked Kono away from Medieros.

Now he held Kono loosely to him. And now, he was completely surprised at himself.

Thrown off by the force of Steve's actions, Kono momentarily stiffened before remembering her cover as the girlfriend of a local drug dealer, that being Steve.

"Taking our cover a little too seriously maybe?" she asked in a whisper, her breath hot against Steve's ear.

"I'm always serious when it comes to work, Kono. Besides, looks like you're taking it too _literally_," he said in a low voice, barely moving as Kono started to dance in front of him.

She turned her back to him and leaning against him, writhed her way down slowly, her head lolling against his stomach. And then she slowly worked her way back up again, intentionally and Steve thought, _purposefully_, rubbing in all the right places. When she faced Steve again, she gave him a provocative smile. Chancing a glance at Medieros, who was grinning from ear to ear at the display, she whispered to Steve, "it's working though."

Steve considered Medieros and then turned to look back at her, not bothering to hide the effect she was having on him. "Yeah, in more ways than one," he said, his voice low and husky.

Kono's eyes returned to him and she arched a brow. Reaching into his jacket, she moved closer to him, swaying against him, running her hands up and down his back slowly, seductively. Steve dropped his hands to her hips and held her tightly against him.

"That's definitely not your gun, is it?" she asked biting her bottom lip, drawing his eyes to her mouth. Any other time, they knew they would have both taken the opportunity to make some sort of sophomoric joke.

But this was completely different. She shifted against him.

Steve's eyes darkened and the familiar warmth of want, started to burn within his core. He inadvertently groaned, as he brought his lips down to her neck to kiss her there.

Kono tilted her head back and to the side to allow him easier access. "I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one enjoying this," Steve murmured against her vanilla scented skin and a small moan escaped Kono's lips. He readjusted his hands, and as one hand rested on her butt, still holding her firmly to him, the other sneaked up to rub the smooth contours of her back. He slyly pushed the strap of her dress off of her shoulder and continued to press hot kisses along the area and along her neck. Kono arched against him and realized she was quickly losing focus. Through the haze, she found herself enjoying the sensations Steve's lips on her skin were causing and knew that he could feel her smile in response to his ministrations.

When they looked at one another again, Steve's shameless grin said it all and Kono had to hold in her snort. "Focus, Boss," she whispered, watching his eyes sparkle.

He nodded slightly. "Ready?" he asked.

Kono stuck her tongue out to lick her lips and Steve's eyes inadvertently glazed over as he gazed at her mouth. She still had her arms wrapped around him and squeezed him in a light hug, causing him to come to his senses. Steve looked over to Medieros and sneered. With a nod to their target, he grabbed Kono's hand and dragged her roughly to an empty back room that they had spotted earlier.

Steve pushed Kono into the tiny closet and slammed the door. And then he started yelling expletives about her. Kono grinned and yelled back, throwing in a random scream, as she dismantled a hidden shelf within the wall to retrieve their guns, thankful that Kamekona knew the owner of the club. Steve then pounded the walls, and she started to groan. He arched a brow and smirked at her, nodding.

"Now?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"Yeah." He nodded again, taking his gun from her and tucking it away.

And then Kono clocked him.

Steve twisted from the force of her right hook and stumbled into the wall. He watched as a look of horror crossed Kono's face as she covered her mouth and then shook his head as if to convey that he was okay. Kono mouthed 'sorry' in return and then hid her gun into the front of her dress. Steve, continued to pretend yell at her and then took her arm.

Bursting from the curtains of the back room, Steve pulled Kono forcibly out and threw her down at Medieros' feet. "Ten pounds for four girls," said Steve, initiating the deal.

Medieros openly ogled Kono as she knelt on her hands and knees before him, her hair hiding her face. "And this one?" he asked, nudging Kono in the shoulder with his foot. "She also in the deal? The prettier ones, they never get pulled over and searched... for my product, anyway," he added with a lecherous smile. "They just pass right through, they don't get x-rayed either."

Steve snorted. "You want her?" he asked, wiping the blood away from the split lip she gave him. "She's annoying as fuck - fourteen pounds then, and she's included," he said with a snarl. He was really starting to hate Medieros. And he hated what he just did to Kono even more. "I have my associate outside with the girls, you have your product ready?" Steve asked, growing impatient and wanting the night to end.

The drug dealer grinned and motioned to one of his thugs who sat on a large, locked case. Steve watched as the two men exchanged a nod. He made a gesture to take his phone out to make a call and Medieros waved him on.

"These girls, they travel across the country for you?" Steve asked after hanging up.

"Yeah," Medieros answered pompously. "People assume, I guess, that a pretty face couldn't be a balloon swallower." He laughed. "But if you get them desperate enough, down enough, you can get them to do anything. Give them something to get high, buy them some nice things, nice clothes, tell them they're beautiful and give them more money," he said as he sucked at his teeth. "They do it." Medieros started laughing. "This one girl, beautiful as sin, but dumb as a rock - she complained that the balloons made her fat!" His laugh turned into a cackle. "She couldn't understand that once she took a shit, she lost the weight," Medieros said, finishing his story with a shake of his head and another chuckle.

At that moment, Danny entered the club with a quartet of really attractive young ladies. They all appeared dazed and out of it, as they were assisted by two of Medieros' men who led them to the dance floor where Kono still kneeled, slumped against a chair. Medieros stood and smiled lewdly at the women and grabbed their faces harshly. After he inspected and groped them, he looked to Steve, letting loose a low whistle.

"One thing I definitely missed about Hawaii, is the ladies. I mean, shit, look at these girls?" he asserted, clearly pleased with himself. "Tan, exotic, this one with _ehu_ colored hair," Jimmy said pointing to one of the girls as he smiled. "This one, with the deep brown eyes and man, look at those legs." He shook his head in awe and motioned to his man to open the locked case to pull out the meth as he took a seat again.

Danny had moved to stand next to Steve as Medieros' man laid out the bags of product on the table in front of them. Both 5-0 team members practically vibrated with anticipation and anger.

Medieros once again turned his attention to Kono. "Look at me, beautiful," Jimmy said to Kono. He reached for her, "you didn't mess-up her face did you?" he asked regarding Steve.

"No..." It was Kono who answered. "But I will mess-up yours," she suddenly exclaimed, jumping up. Her lightening fast kick to the side of Medieros' face occurred simultaneously with HPD and Chin, barging into the club.

# # #

A/N: So yeah...once again, so sorry this took so long. I worked 40 + hours in 3 days, yeesh. It was extremely difficult for me to concentrate at work when all I wanted to do was write the next chapter to this story and post it. Luckily, I didn't burn any pastries! Yay, I'm not fired. Haha.

_ehu –_ refers to rusty color that brown hair gets when exposed to the sun, lots of island girls who hang out at the beach have ehu colored hair.


	4. The Aftermath

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

Minute references to Malama Ka Aina and Mana'o. A bit of Steve whump ahead (hope you hung in there _amblue36)._

As always, thank you dear readers for your reviews/comments, fave adds, and alerts! You are all pretty awesome!

Chapter 4 – The Aftermath

# # #

Two Coconuts Nightclub  
>Lewers Street, Oahu<p>

In the flurry of activity that followed, there was so much yelling going on that it was a miracle that no one got shot.

Medieros conveniently passed out from Kono's kick to the head while Steve, Danny and Chin, as well as HPD, dispatched Medieros' other men. Members of the state's task force in the fight against crystal meth, made themselves available to H5-0 the minute they heard about them going after Medieros as well. And they too joined in the fray. The club, though now in a shambles from all the fighting, remained fairly intact. And now, all of Medieros' men where handcuffed and propped up along the wall, waiting to be taken out by HPD.

Jimmy awoke a few minutes later, on his stomach, to a splitting headache and something pressing his face and neck to the floor. Opening his eyes slowly, he realized it was a shoe. A woman's shoe to be exact... with red snakeskin leather. The pressure on his neck increased as he started to squirm. It was then that he realized that the person wearing the shoe was the same girl he thought he just bought for several pounds of crystal meth. Her and four other girls, he remembered groggily.

"Guys, he's awake," he heard her say.

Danny walked over and bent down to peer at Medieros. "Hey, thank you for joining us Sleeping Beauty," he said with a smirk. "Kono here, really did do a number on your face. That's definitely going to leave a mark." He motioned to a couple of the random HPD officers swarming the scene around them. "Let's get him out of here guys," Danny said. "Really, one kick did that?" he asked Kono rhetorically as he helped to cuff Jimmy. They watched as the young HPD officers brought Medieros over to join the other detainees.

As they continued to wrap it up, Medieros and his men were taken away. Danny and Chin moved to assist the four undercover female cops as they collected the bags of meth on the table and the remainder in the case.

The club had finally emptied and Steve made his way over to where Kono was. He casually removed his jacket to place it on her shoulders.

"You okay?" Steve asked, gently squeezing her upper arms. "You did good."

Kono looked at him and smirked, but before she could answer, Chin had walked quickly over to them and decked Steve. The taller man stumbled backwards out of shock.

"Chin!" Danny yelled, rushing to where they were to grab hold of Chin.

"Leave it Danny," Steve grunted as he regained his thoughts and footing.

Chin broke free of Danny's grasp and swung again at Steve, his fist connecting once more with his face. Steve staggered and then crumpled forward, down to his knees. Danny attempted to kneel next to him, but Steve just waved him away.

"Stop it, Chin," Kono said angrily, stepping forward, finally finding her voice.

Her cousin flat out ignored her and kicked Steve in the gut while he was down. "Get her out of here, Danny," Steve advised. He took another kick to the side from Chin and let out a painful groan.

"Now," Chin gritted out as he yanked Steve up to punch him in the face again.

Danny, for once speechless, grabbed Kono and pulled her backwards. He shoved her bodily out of the club and Steve, continued to take the beating that Chin was inflicting on him.

Outside the club, Danny started ranting. He was hoping the older detective would reign in his over-protectiveness of his cousin. But that last gesture, where Steve covered Kono with his jacket, set Chin off like a time-bomb.

"What the hell is the matter with you guys! You know why Chin is doing this right? Right?" Danny asked as he started to pace, running his hands through his hair.

"Do something Danny," Kono said, almost pleading. "Aren't you going back in there to stop Chin? I mean, Steve's not even fighting back." She took a step back towards the doorway to the club, but Danny held up a hand, barring her way.

"Yeah? Well he shouldn't be," he said, his voice rising. "Can I just remind you of something? We could see everything that went on in the club, in the surveillance van. Everything, Kono. So, excuse me if I don't feel like stepping in right now. And besides, by looks of it, Steve obviously feels that he deserves the ass-kicking he's getting," he added.

"That's just wrong," Kono said, moving off to lean against the parked Camaro. "He didn't act alone, Danny. We had to make our covers believable. If you say you saw everything, than you had to have seen that much."

"I did. I'm not blind, but I want to ask you something... why'd you let it get so _real_ in there? Because, that's what we saw, Chin and me."

"I don't know Danny. I... think I got lost," Kono answered, sounding confused and just a little bit frustrated.

"Then maybe you should ask yourself something here... like, why was it so easy to lose yourself like that – with him," Danny prodded.

Kono snorted softly and walked off. "Why does it matter Danny? We got the job done," she threw back over her shoulder.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Danny asked after her, surprised at her leaving.

"Back to HQ and then home," she said, as she left Danny standing in the parking lot.

# # #

Five-0 HQ  
>Oahu<p>

When Steve and Danny returned to headquarters, it was empty. The lights in Chin and Kono's offices were off and aside from the lights above their own desks, 1 AM in the morning looked pretty lonely. Wordlessly, Steve slipped into his office and removed his bloody dress shirt to change into a t-shirt.

And of course, Danny followed... quietly. His silence apparently, unnerving Steve.

"Danny. Say something, or else you're going to explode."

Danny regarded his partner. Parts of his face were still red from the damage Chin caused while the other parts of Steve's face were starting to bruise all over. The cut above his right eye still bled, as did the split in his lip. His left cheek was starting to swell and the purplish circle developing around his right eye was going to need an ice-pack soon. And the way Steve moved and breathed, Danny was pretty certain that his ribs were bruised as well.

"Spit it out, Danno. I mean, fuck, I appreciate that you gave me ride back here, but it's driving me crazy that you haven't said one word." He looked at Danny. "What, of all the times I want you to shut-up, you pick now?" Steve asked, hoping to encourage the blonde detective as he moved slowly to gingerly take a seat on the edge of his desk.

Danny took a breath as he continued to study Steve. "Okay, look, I apologize for being a bit out of character, I've just been thinking," he explained.

"Thinking," said Steve.

"Yeah, thinking and processing and absorbing," supplied Danny.

"Let me have it then. I know it's eating away at you, just let me have it."

"Fine," Danny said as he crossed his arms across his chest. "What the hell is the matter with you? I thought you McGarretts had this 'laser focus' thing going on?"

"What? Are you referring to what went on in the club?"

"_What went on in the club? What went on?_ Of course that's what I'm referring to!" Danny exclaimed, already on a roll.

"Really, because I was just wondering if you meant the part with Kono or the part where I let Chin beat the crap outta me!" Steve said back, his voice rising in response.

"The first part, you goof! Of course the first part," he replied.

Steve shrugged and crossed his arms gently in front of him. "I _was_ focused, Danny."

"Yeah, _on her_. What happened to maintaining objectivity?"

"I seem to recall you being in the same situation with her when we busted Salvo, Danny," Steve said, defending himself.

"That was different," Danny said, attempting to defend himself in return.

Steve grunted lightly. "Was it?"

"Yeah, for one thing, it wasn't as inappropriate as what was going on with you two," Danny answered, gesturing with an extended index finger.

"Inappropriate? What the hell are you talking about Danny? I didn't kiss her," he said. Danny arched a brow. "On the lips... like you did," he added, clarifying.

"Yeah, well I didn't grope her," Danny fired back.

"What? So you're jealous?" Steve asked back, hoping to hide the sudden embarrassment he felt as he replayed the night's events from the club in his head.

"That's not the point Steven, she's a rookie."

"Yeah, well, when you think about it, when it comes to being a cop, so am I," he admitted.

"Whoa, hey. First of all, I never thought, _never _thought, that you would say _that_. _That_, we'll have to talk about later. But that doesn't make what you did okay, alright? Kono's a good girl."

"You don't think I know that? Besides, I didn't act alone here and you know it," Steve said.

"No... that's the second time I heard that." He paused a beat. "No, it was pretty obvious that you didn't," Danny said, conceding.

"And Kono's definitely not a _girl_, Danny," Steve added.

"Yeah. She's, uh, definitely not... I'm guessing, from what I saw anyway." The shorter detective, sighed and shoved his hands into his pocket. "And just for the record, I'm not jealous."

"You are. A little." Steve pointed out.

Danny tilted his head from side to side. "Maybe a little." He cleared his throat. "So uh, just so you know, it didn't feel _make believe_ or _pretend_."

Steve gave him a confused look. "How would you know? You weren't even there."

"I didn't have to be, Chin and I saw it all from the van." Danny pinned Steve with a look. "We could see it your face afterward, when you gave Kono your jacket. I could see it in _her_ face afterward, when she practically begged me to go back into the club to stop Chin from beating you into a pulp." Danny's hands flew out of his pockets as he gesticulated wildly. "When did that happen?"

"When did what happen?"

"Don't play dumb," Danny said. He watched Steve shrug and look away and it occurred to him that his partner had no idea himself. The detective shook his head. "You need to get to the hospital, maybe," Danny said as he studied Steve's face, changing the subject on purpose.

"Yeah, but I have something to do first," Steve said.

Danny shoved his hands into his pockets again. "Don't... no. You already behaved badly once tonight. You go over to see her and - "

"And what Danny? What? I owe her an apology. I behaved like an ass."

Danny pursed his lips. "Yeah, you do and yeah, you did. But now? Babe, you need to get your face looked at." He watched Steve stand slowly. "And maybe your ribs too?"

Steve shook his head. "No, first I need to see Kono."

# # #

A/N: So Steve was a bad, bad boy. I'm clearly transferring my own 'bad-boy' complex onto the written page. Haha. But really, my idea is that Steve is a man not unaccustomed to humility. In my other story, _On Love and Other Things_, I took the view that Chin would only _threaten_ to kick Steve's ass when it came to the possibility of him and Kono pairing up. Obviously, I wanted to explore what would happen if Chin just flat out did it. I hope I didn't offend anyone by it, because I really believe that Chin would very much protect Kono any way he can. Even if it means beating up their boss.


	5. The Apology

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

Thank you all for reading, reviewing/commenting, adding alerts and faves. The encouragement is greatly appreciated.

Chapter 5 – The Apology

# # #

Kono Kalakaua's Apartment Building  
>McCully, Honolulu<p>

Steve stepped out of his Silverado and swallowed thickly as he quietly closed his truck door.

It suddenly occurred to him, that he'd never actually been to Kono's place before. He looked up and took note of the lone apartment with a light still on at almost two in the morning and moved around to lean against the front of his truck. He couldn't help but wonder why - why was it, that he'd never found the occasion to go over and hang out at her place?

It wasn't like she'd never asked.

Any time that he did find himself hanging out with her, it was always in the company of their other two team members. As a group they'd always have the best time, they were after all, an ohana.

But, he never hung out with _just_ her. Maybe it was a desire to remain professional. Or a need to distance himself. Or maybe it was just because he was never interested in hanging out with her.

Steve snorted to himself. That couldn't have been farther from the truth. In fact, Steve realized that lately, he felt more and more the opposite.

He liked the rookie.

Perhaps a little too much, he acknowledged briefly, before tamping the thought down. Steve genuinely felt a connection to her. Kono, he justified, was a kindred spirit – she liked being active, she was athletic – on land and in the water, she was bold, brave, and smart. Steve liked that she made him laugh and he especially liked her competitiveness.

With all these aspects to her character, it was a no-brainer as to why he would want to spend more time with her.

Not to mention, after tonight, the way things went down in the club... there were obviously _other reasons_ why...

Like... she was hot... beautiful... sexy.

Clearly _other reasons_ that he didn't even realize he felt and certainly couldn't entertain due to a long list of 'whys.'

The main 'why,' was that he was the boss.

Steve breathed heavily and pursed his lips. If he were honest with himself, Catherine was another 'why.'

Admittedly, she was further down his list, but she was on it, nonetheless. Steve blew out a breath and felt a small pang of guilt.

He was being a total ass.

To both women.

The problem was, one of them didn't even know how much of a jerk he was being. He had to come clean and he knew it... but he needed to start with Kono.

Steve straightened and made his way up the steps to Kono's front door. He knocked softly and was relieved when she opened the door shortly after.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Kono leaned against her door frame to study him. "You look like shit."

Steve grunted. "Yeah, I'm not feeling too far from it," he said following her as she waved him in.

Kono moved further into her tiny apartment and made her way to her kitchen where she had filled her small sink with ice and water.

"What are you doing here, Boss?" Kono asked bluntly as she plunged her hand into the sink. She hissed and then glanced at him.

Taken by surprise at her candor, he blurted the first thing that came to his mind. "You looked great tonight and I wanted to apologize." Steve groaned inwardly._ Smooth._

Kono smirked. "Boss, really?" she asked shaking her head slightly. "Thanks, I think... but seriously? I owe you an apology too, but I'm pretty sure that could've waited till later. I meant - why are you here, instead of the emergency room at Straub?"

"I - wanted to check on you, to see if you were okay," he explained hastily as he pulled a towel off of the dish rack. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand out of the water, smiling to himself as Kono jumped from his touch. Steve studied her hand and saw the severe swelling and bruising forming along her knuckles. "Sorry about my hard head," he said sucking in a breath.

"It's okay," Kono assured him as she gently pulled her hand away to immerse it into the sink again. "It's not as bad as what Chin managed to do to your face."

Steve nodded slightly and stuck a hand in the sink to fish out some ice cubes. His hand brushed against hers, sending an electrical current that she was not expecting through the water. Steve's eyes met hers and he smiled crookedly. "Don't forget the ribs."

"Them too huh?" She asked tilting her head, slightly. "Steve, really, I'm okay." Kono tried once more at reassuring him as she pulled her eyes away to stare down at her sink.

Again he nodded. Steve put the cubes he gathered into the towel, twisted it into a ball and raised it to press it high onto his cheek. He took a deep breath. "I'm pretty sure, I screwed up."

This time Kono shook her head vigorously in protest, but Steve wasn't about to let her speak just yet.

"With Catherine," he clarified, surprised at Kono's sudden change in body language. She seemed to slump and deflate and he wondered what that was about. Sighing heavily, he asked, "about what happened in the club... what was that, exactly?"

"What was what, exactly?"

"The thing - the way we reacted to each other, what was that?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Kono asked back, still staring down at her sink.

Steve was silent for a beat. "I'm not a eunuch, Kono," he answered trying to catch her eyes. "If that's what you mean."

She ducked her head instead. Causing her hair to fall forward, Kono was thankful for the curtain of hair to hide behind. _No Steve, you certainly aren't that_, she thought ruefully. She took a deep breath and finally looked at him.

"Seriously Kono," Steve tried again. "What happened back at the club?"

Kono wanted to look away but Steve's gaze upon her seemed to be searching for something. She just wasn't sure what that was. "Look, Boss, I'm sorry Chin beat your ass over it," she said eventually.

He shook his head. "I really don't give a fuck about that Kono. I think I pretty much deserved it. I'll ask again; because I really don't think you were just putting on a show for Medieros. What happened in the club? Between us?"

"You were there, what do you think happened, Steve? You can't be that dense," she said in a huff. She had reached around him to grab another dishtowel to dry her hand and stalked off towards her front door. "I might not be dating anyone at the moment, Steve, but for crying out loud, I'm not dead! What do you want me to say?" she asked as she threw the towel to the side, her temper, clearly flaring.

Steve followed her movements with his eyes. "I don't know. Look, I'm just a little curious about _why_, okay?" he asked as he put the ice-pack down.

Kono groaned and rolled her eyes as she reached for the door handle of her front door.

"I'm not going anywhere, Kono," Steve said.

She whirled around and was met with the classic Steve-stance: aneurysm face, arms crossed at his chest, feet planted wide apart.

"Fine. Then I am," she responded as she walked out.

"Fuck," Steve said to himself as he moved to follow her. "Damn it, Kono!" He rounded the door frame of her front door and found her sitting on the front steps of her apartment building. He sighed to himself.

"God you are stubborn," Kono said softly as Steve got closer and crouched down slowly to take a seat next to her.

"And you tried to leave without shoes and car keys," he explained. "You don't even have flip-flops on. Running away takes more than that."

"Shut-up Steve." Kono snorted softly. "This whole night is turning into one epic, embarrassing moment for me."

"What? You're embarrassed? Why? Because we got carried away?"

"Yes, I am. And is that what we're calling it?" she asked, in an uncharacteristic meek voice.

Steve studied her, glad that she bravely looked back at him return. "Kono, you don't have to be embarrassed. The last thing I would ever want to do, is have you not trust me. I want to apologize for allowing myself to lose focus like that, because it's obvious to me now that I feel some... attraction to you. I could have compromised the operation and put you in danger and I am truly sorry for that."

Kono looked away briefly before she spoke. "Thanks, Steve." She shook head. "But I'm to blame too. You're right about us... _me_, getting carried away. For some reason, I let myself get lost in the role, maybe for the same reason you did. I just don't want what happened to affect your decision to put me on future cases," she said, staring at him. "I'm really sorry, Boss."

He exhaled loudly.

"Forgiven?" Steve asked her, a small smile beginning to tug at the corners of his mouth.

Kono nodded.

"Forgiven?" she asked, smirking as he nodded back. She stood to walk back towards her front door, Steve shadowing behind her.

"I think I know what happened," Steve said as Kono reached her door. She paused, turned to cross her arms in front of her and leaned against her door frame as she regarded her boss.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm charming and handsome and you couldn't help yourself," he said matter-of-fact, struggling to maintain a straight face.

Kono laughed and shook her head. "Boss, you're ridiculous, you know that?"

"What?" he asked, looking mildly affronted.

"Chin must have done more damage, than we thought," she said smiling at him.

Steve chuckled then. "Kono, I'm serious."

"Then how do you explain your reaction to me?" she asked, her smile suddenly becoming predatory.

Steve swallowed at the shift in her demeanor and he unexpectedly became all too aware of how close he was actually standing to her.

Kono reached out with her index finger and traced a lazy, intimate circle along his t-shirt clad chest. Steve's breath hitched and he unconsciously moved closer to her, filling the shrinking space between them with heat.

"You made it so easy, Kono," he answered, his voice rough.

"It was easy for me too," she said, a fleeting, sad, smile on her lips. "Which is one reason why you need to leave, now."

Steve cleared his throat and stepped back. "Right."

"And I'm pretty sure you know the other reasons why you need to leave right now, too."

"Like?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Like, you need to get to the hospital. ASAP. And you're my boss. And... Catherine," she said, ticking the reasons off of her fingers, one by one.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," he replied, a bit distracted as he stepped back further to lean against the railing.

Kono snickered softly. "I distinctly remember you saying something about 'screwing things up' with her?"

"She uh... Catherine doesn't like the fact that you're a woman," he said by way explanation.

"Ah, I get it. She's the jealous type," Kono stated.

Steve sobered. "I mean, let's face it. I clearly didn't behave tonight. I guess, I just never really knew with her, but I figure she should know."

"She's your girlfriend." Part of Kono admired him for wanting to be honest with her.

Steve crossed his arms across his chest again, only a bit more casually than earlier in their talk. His head bobbed from side to side before he spoke. "She never wanted to put a label on us, other than 'friends.'"

"But you wanted more?" Kono asked, her brow furrowing.

"I guess, I think I thought I did. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah." Kono shrugged. "So what now?"

"I should go," he said, as he motioned to his face. He flinched slightly in pain, as he straightened, feeling the night's events finally catch up to him. He completely avoided her question, because he realized, he didn't even really know himself.

Kono nodded absently, curious as to why he didn't answer her question. Chewing on her bottom lip, she said "Good night Boss." Then, "we're good right?" she asked, still slightly concerned.

"Yeah... we're more than good," he said smiling warmly at her. "Hey. There is no way I would ever let what happened between us, color my decisions. I meant what I said Kono, at the club. You did a good job," he affirmed.

"Thanks, Boss, for everything. Really." She meant it.

He smiled again and moved to go.

"Hey, Steve?" she asked, watching him stop mid turn. "You don't regret having a woman on the team, do you?"

Steve paused to look at her, to really gaze into her deep brown eyes. "I really wouldn't have it any other way."

# # #

A/N: Once again, I subjected you all to a really long wait. Seriously, where I work, is never this busy for the summer, but for some reason, this year we're booming! Thank you for you patience, I apologize for the long wait and I hope you are enjoying this story.


	6. The Apology, Part 2

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing/commenting, adding alerts and faves. The encouragement is greatly appreciated.

Chapter 6 – The Apology, Part 2

# # #

Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett's House  
>Oahu<p>

When Steve finally returned home from Straub Hospital, he felt bone tired. It had been an extremely long night, he was exhausted, sore and confused. He needed and wanted sleep. By the time his head hit the pillow, his eyes had drifted closed, the requisite cargo pants and t-shirt were still on and his boots were barely off of his feet as he collapsed into bed.

Some hours later, he awoke to the sound of knocking. Steve groaned and stretched his aching body and took note of the time on his alarm clock. It was 7 AM and he felt like he'd been asleep for only an hour. But after the previous night's events, who could blame him?

Steve's ribs protested painfully as he gingerly made his way down to his front door. When he opened it, he was not at all surprised to find Chin there.

"Good morning, Chin," he said groggily as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Steve," Chin replied.

The taller man waved him in and made his way to his kitchen.

"Do you want some coffee?" Steve asked.

"Nah, thanks though." Chin leaned against the dining table to look at Steve. His boss' face was a fantastic combination of varying shades of purple and puffiness, especially around his right eye. "Does the black eye hurt?"

Steve poured himself a glass of ice-water and turned to face Chin. He smiled slightly. "Not so much as the ribs."

"Yeah? Well... good." Chin crossed his arms across his chest.

"Chin - "

"You can apologize now," Chin stated.

Steve took a deep sip of his water and regarded him. "I'm sorry for what happened at the club, but I meant no disrespect to Kono. You have to know that."

Chin exhaled, unaware that he'd been holding a breath. "Yeah? She's not just my cousin Steve, she's like a little sister."

"I know, I get it. I've got Mary Ann remember?"

Chin nodded. He knew that Steve understood. "Yeah and she's _all you got_. At one time, Kono was all I had too. Hell, she might still be all that I have."

"I know, Chin. Really, I do. Hey. I hope you know, I would never intentionally hurt her."

Chin gave him a look. "Yeah. I know that now."

Steve arched a brow questioningly.

"I figured that out after you let me beat the crap out of you," Chin explained.

"I deserved it, really," Steve conceded with a slight snort.

Chin nodded. "Yeah, but you're still my Boss."

"Hey, I haven't fired you yet," Steve said.

"Maybe you should," Chin said offhandedly.

Steve smirked as he turned to fish out some aspirin from one of he cabinets. "Can't. My old man believed you remember? I still believe in you. I get what you did, that's why I let you do it. You did it because you were protecting Kono. I wouldn't hesitate to do the same."

Chin straightened. "Thanks, Boss. And I'm sorry I laid into you so hard."

"It's all good, Chin." Steve popped the pills into his mouth and took a gulp of water.

"Can I ask you something though?" Chin said.

"Yeah, what's up?" Steve noted that Chin's seriousness never wavered.

"What are your intentions towards Kono?"

Steve was in the middle of taking another sip of water and practically choked."What the? What do you mean?" He put the glass down, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You heard me, brah. Because I don't really think it would be such a good idea."

"I don't have any intentions, other than - I mean, I hadn't even considered - at least, I didn't think, whoa - I didn't act alone," he finally got out, defending himself, weakly.

"What, so now you're inferring something about Kono's morals?" Chin bristled at Steve accusation.

"No. No, Chin, I would never. Look, I know that deep down, Kono is a good person, through and through. It's why she stuck by you when no one else would, it's why she's such an asset to the team and why she's a good cop. It's also why, she forgave me for the way I behaved."

Chin nodded, though not completely satisfied.

"I get that you see her as a sister, Chin. But she's also a cop remember? And she's a pretty bad-ass one at that. I think she could kick my ass if she wanted to, despite me being a Navy SEAL or not."

His father's former partner laughed then. "Yeah. She could." He knew Steve was just being nice and he appreciated it. "I apologize again, Boss."

Steve nodded, apparently relieved.

"It would be none of my business anyway. And believe me, she'd tell me that, if that were in fact the case," Chin reasoned.

The taller man shook his head. "She's a member of our team, so it's all purely professional."

Chin arched a brow, still unsure.

"What? You don't trust me?" Steve asked, mildly surprised.

"It's not that trust is the issue, Steve. But if it's _purely professional_ as you say, then I believe it," Chin said.

"Something tells me that you don't, though," Steve replied, studying him.

Chin inclined his head slightly. "Only because, you seem to doubt it yourself."

# # #

Kono Kalakaua's Apartment Building  
>McCully, Honolulu<p>

Kono looked down at her phone and read the text again, "_Front door, Welcome mat._" It was from Chin.

She dressed and opened her door and looked down. The familiar plastic white bag with 'Diamond Head Bakery' in green lettering on it, had her smiling instantly. She knew what it was as she picked it up and held it reverently in her hands – chocolate haupia cake.

Kono looked over the railing and saw Chin down below, leaning against his motorcycle. She smirked and turned to go back into her apartment, leaving the door open as an invitation.

A few minutes later, she had the coffee poured and the cake set out on dessert plates as Chin walked in. He moved towards her and took a seat at her tiny, kitchen table, across from her. They ate and enjoyed the cake and coffee in silence.

When Kono had finally cleaned her plate, she leaned back and sighed. "Thanks, Cuz."

"I figured I owed you the whole cake this time," he said pointing at the remaining slices in the box.

Kono nodded slightly. "I didn't mean the cake, I meant 'thanks' for last night," she clarified.

Chin snorted softly and mouthed an 'oh' and shrugged.

"Although if you really think about it," Kono started. "You kind of _owe_ me the cake for behaving like such a _moke_."

"Excuse me?" Chin asked, confused.

"C'mon Cuz," Kono stated, crossing her arms across her front.

"Maybe you're right. I just got a little pissed," he explained.

"I know. You are so much the big brother I never had. Thanks for sticking up for me, but you know I can handle it myself," she said as her brow furrowed slightly.

Chin nodded, a small smile flickering across his stoic features.

"Remember Junior Moniz?" Kono asked, bringing Chin's memories back to when Kono was in high-school. "That guy was three times as big as me and I took care of him on my own."

Again he nodded. "I know, Kono."

"And when I was on the pro-circuit, you weren't there to protect me. I think I managed fine, traveling around the world, meeting all those boys."

"I know," he said again, sighing and then standing to clear the plates. He walked over to her sink and placed the dishes in it.

"You know, Steve, he didn't act autonomously. I had - I played a big part in getting him to react the way that he did." Kono chewed on her bottom lip.

Chin groaned, only as a brother would. If he could, he would have placed his hands over his ears. "Gees, Kono."

"Chin, c'mon. Let's not be so one-sided here. I'm as much to blame, you know that."

Her cousin nodded reluctantly. "It's because you spent all that time with cousin Nani growing up. I blame her, and the girls she hung out with - Lovey and Roella... such a bad influence on you," Chin said.

"What? Oh please, Cuz, you ended up dating Lovey, remember?" Kono teased back.

"Gah. Kono, don't remind me," he said groaning again. "That's why I said they were such a bad influence on you."

She giggled at her cousin. "What? I don't know if I should find it endearing that you still see me as a little kid sometimes or not. But you know I'm not anymore, right?"

"I know!" Chin exclaimed. "It's just that in some ways, I guess I still see you, and wish that you were still that skinny thirteen year old _girl_, surfing in boys shorts and a t-shirt."

Kono shook her head. "I'm not a girl anymore. You know that. I'm a cop now. Just like you."

Chin nodded. "I know, Cuz. I'm sorry, for being so overprotective. You are definitely a woman now, and I know that. I... accept that."

"Yeah." Kono smirked then. "Thanks anyway, for sticking up my virtue, even thought you didn't have to. You knew I could handle it, but you did it anyway."

She stood to come up next to him as he started on the dishes. They bumped shoulders playfully and laughed softly before Kono got serious again. "It's not fair that you would do anything for family and yet they wouldn't do the same for you," she said as she dried off the ones he had scrubbed and rinsed. The way their family treated Chin was a constant thorn in her side.

Chin turned off the tap and looked at her. "What are you talking about?" he asked, with a knowing smile. "_You_ did," he stated. He dried off his hands and wrapped an arm around her in a half hug. "And seriously, that's kind of all that matters."

# # #

A/N: Wanted to thank you all again for keeping up with the story. This was a fairly short chapter I know, because Steve's apology to Kono turned out to be so long. Who knew the SEAL would be such a motormouth, clearly an influence of Danny. Anyway, I wanted to feature some Chin-love in this one, because, he was just being a brother to her. Also, today's Hawaiian word is: _moke _(pronounced mōk) – bully.


	7. The Unavoidable

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

Spoilers: References to E Malama (Episode 1:16).

Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing/commenting, adding alerts and faves. The encouragement is always, so, so greatly appreciated. Also wanted to thank International readers who have commented as well! Merci beaucoup!

Chapter 7 – The Unavoidable

# # #

Five-0 HQ  
>Honolulu, Oahu<p>

A week had passed since Medieros' arrest and much to Danny and Chin's dismay, Steve and Kono appeared, of all things, _normal_.

To each other anyway.

Separately, Danny could see the signs in his partner. He wasn't sure if Chin could, but he saw them. As tiny as they were, he saw them. And he had to admit, Steve did a pretty damn good job of hiding his feelings. Then again, Danny wasn't so surprised about that, he was after all, a Navy SEAL. Apparently, if you couldn't compartmentalize, you were dead. He figured Steve was pretty masterful at that, since he was alive and breathing and in his office at the moment.

Danny supposed that he and Chin should be happy, really. Because it meant that even if Steve and Kono decided to act on their attraction, they could do it and still remain focused and professional. But really, who was he kidding? He was talking about Steve and Kono, he didn't expect any less from those two.

A cocoa puff from Liliha Bakery swam into Danny's line of vision and he immediately snapped out of his musings. He looked to the owner of the hand holding the pastry and realized it was Chin.

"Heh. Uhm, for me? Really, you _should_ have," Danny said appreciatively as he snatched the dessert away.

Chin snorted and smiled at Danny as he watched him inhale the puff. "I figured you'd want one."

"Oh yes," Danny said, mouth full. "Hmm – what's the occasion? Is it, Tuesday?"

"No, it's Wednesday, but you don't really need an occasion, do you?" Chin asked.

"Mmm, no. No, I do not. Not for those things," Danny said with conviction, as he licked his fingers clean and grabbed a paper napkin to finish the job.

Chin laughed then. "Pretty quiet week so far, Boss still doing his paperwork from the Medieros case?"

Danny nodded. He jutted a thumb towards Kono's office and said, "her too." The two former police officers grinned at each other and took a seat together at the conference table. "'Rookies'," Danny said, smirking and then laughing softly.

Chin's smile grew wider as he shook his head. He pulled out a can of Hawaiian Sun, Iced Tea from the bag that held the cocoa puffs, handed it to Danny and then pulled one out for himself. They drank their teas and turned in their seats to observe the other two team members.

"After rushing to get Julie Masters to the courthouse to testify against Aaron Brenner and then running that sting operation on Jimmy Medieros, I would say we deserve a slow week, don't you think?" asked Chin rhetorically.

Danny snorted and nodded enthusiastically in response. Then he glanced towards Kono's office. "She doing okay though?" he asked Chin as he motioned to Kono.

"Yeah, why?" Chin asked back.

"Nothing, I was just..." Danny shrugged mid sentence, "...wondering." He turned away from the offices to face Chin.

"Okay, why?" the older detective asked again.

"Because he acts like he's okay, but he seems a little rattled," Danny answered with a slight nod towards Steve's office.

Chin tilted his head. "And you know this because?"

"Because I'm his partner," Danny answered, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Uh-huh." Chin didn't sound convinced as he mirrored Danny's posture, crossing his arms across his front as well.

Danny smirked. "C'mon, you're going to tell me you haven't noticed anything different about Kono, or at the very least, about her behavior?" He asked, breaking form and flailing his hands about.

"No," Chin answered succinctly.

"Huh." Danny ran a hand through his hair. "Are you sure?"

Chin's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Yeah, brah. Are you sure you're not just looking for something to find?"

"Yes... I mean, yeah, I'm sure. And no, I'm not looking to find something here," Danny said defensively, his voice dropping to convey his seriousness. "You know that I can read him better than anybody. But you can too. You don't see it? When we're all together? He's more than _attracted_ to her, he just doesn't know it. And I'm guessing, he doesn't know how to handle it either."

Chin turned to watch Steve a minute before responding. "There was that moment. When we found out that the Cleaner after Julie was Brenner's co-council. We got to the courthouse and of course Kono had already handled it. But the way Steve looked at her..." Chin trailed off.

"What?"

"It wasn't just admiration at her skill. I guess in retrospect, it was clearly an open admiration of _her_."

"Aha!" Danny quietly exclaimed as he noticed Steve glancing up to eye them curiously.

Chin cleared his throat, causing Danny to focus on him again. "And when they raced each other from Kapiolani park to the Hilton's Lagoon - "

"Yeah, _how did_ that go? I mean I know who won, I was just wondering why it was so awkward at the end, you know, when I brought Catherine by."

"You caught Steve off guard, I guess. I just noticed then, how touchy he was with Kono. Then again, he's never hidden his concern for her well being – always asking her or me if she was okay after our cases." Chin shook his head and chuckled softly. "Mostly me." Then he said, "I seriously don't think he even realized it then."

Danny crossed his arms again and pinched his bottom lip. "I really don't think he knew it when we went after Medieros."

Chin sighed. "But he found out that night, for sure."

The blond detective chuckled. "Yeah, apparently he did."

Chin chanced a glance towards their boss, who once again had his head down, focusing on his paperwork. "I think that's why I laid into him so hard."

"Yeah, probably." Danny leaned back in his chair. "You obviously felt your protective instincts kick into gear."

Chin shrugged and downed his iced-tea drink. "Yeah. Maybe you should talk some sense into him."

"Me?" Danny asked and gestured to himself. "Maybe they'll just figure it out."

"I don't mean 'talk some sense into him' as in, go for it," Chin explained.

"Well, why not? If anyone is going to keep up with Steve, it's her," he reasoned back.

Chin shook his head adamantly. "Brah, you're _loco_, you know that? I thought you said he was a magnet for trouble? You want Kono around that?"

"And what? You don't think your cousin could handle it?" Danny asked back, gesticulating wildly again. "Besides, they would protect each other, you know that, right? If there was a guy for her, you wouldn't pick Steve? I couldn't think of two better people for each other."

"It's not whether or not she can protect herself that's the issue. She is loyal. To a fault sometimes," Chin explained, calmly.

Danny shook his head in response. "Sticking by family, by you, _is not_ a fault. Don't you ever think that Chin."

Sighing heavily, Chin said, "I guess, in some ways, you've got a point. But even if she did return his attraction, which, she may, she would never make the first move. Kono's also, extremely practical. She would consider her family and career above all else, before herself even," he finished, glancing towards her office to study his cousin as she worked.

"Well, maybe we'll have to change that," Danny said.

# # #

Danny watched as Kono and Chin waved good bye to Steve before bidding farewell to the pair himself. He gave Chin a slight nod. Then he smirked in response to Kono's suspicious glare before cracking a smile that had the young woman smiling and shaking her head as the cousins left the offices. Feeling Steve's presence come up beside him, he shoved his hands into his pocket and turned to find Steve dangling the Camaro's keys in front of his face.

"Oh, so you want me to drive you home again?" asked Danny in mock annoyance.

"Why do you always ask questions you know the answers to Danny?"

"Because I like to annoy you, just as much as you annoy me, Steven. And, because last I checked, your truck in sitting in the parking lot, downstairs," Danny explained.

"Yeah, well, my-keys-are-in-it-because-I-accidentally-locked-them-in-there-and-I-forgot-to-call-triple-A-okay?" Steve answered in a rush that literally had Danny's head spinning.

The shorter man raised an index finger and looked from Steve to the doors of the offices. "You – you what?"

"Danny," Steve said, his voice low and slightly dangerous. "Do not, okay, do not ask me to repeat what I just said."

"What is with you? Okay, I'll give you a ride home so you can get your spare and then I'll give you a ride back, but please. Please just answer me this – what the hell is wrong with you? You can't fool me, you haven't been yourself since we busted Jimmy," Danny asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Oh c'mon. So I forgot my keys. I had an off morning, whatever. That doesn't mean there's something wrong with me," he stated.

"No, Steven, no." Danny grabbed the keys and turned to walk out of the offices. "I don't believe you."

Steve followed behind him and grunted.

"This has everything to do with what happened that night, doesn't it? I said it before, I'll say it again, you can't fool me," Danny said as they exited the building and started walking towards the parking lot.

Steve came up on the passenger side of the Camaro and shrugged. "I forgot to keep a spare key in my office and I locked my keys in the truck. How does that have anything to do with Kono?"

"I didn't say _Kono_, in particular," Danny noted with a smirk, as he slid into the driver's side, waiting for Steve to follow suit.

Steve rolled his eyes and got in the car. _Damn._

Danny waited a bit after driving off before starting his 'talk.' "I see how you look at her and how you're always trying to control yourself and do the right thing. But what are you going to do to fight the inevitable?" he asked as he glanced at Steve.

Steve pulled his attention away from the side of the road to look back at Danny. "What's inevitable?"

"You and Kono," Danny answered suggestively, arching his brows. "You know, it's unavoidable."

"Danny, come on. Don't do that," Steve said, tearing his gaze away.

Danny shook his head and turned his attention back to the road. "Whatever Steve, I'm merely pointing out something that became painfully obvious the night we all worked the Medieros case. I saw what happened, you weren't being lusty teenagers - "

Steve snorted. "No, if it were about lust, I would have done something that night," he conceded. "But then again, I'm pretty sure she doesn't see me that way anyway," he justified.

"Why not?" Danny asked. "The way you two reacted to each other is not her, not seeing you _that_ way."

"But you saw me after ward, how messed up Chin left me," Steve said, huffing slightly. "She didn't seem to care," he explained.

Danny's grip on the wheel momentarily tightened as he shook his head adamantly. He knew that Steve still had some wounds left to heal from the beating Chin gave him. "That's not an excuse."

"The most she told me, was that I looked like shit," Steve said with a lopsided smile. "Danny, I hear what you're saying, but seriously, my problem is that I went undercover that night, not you. Doing that made me see the possibility. The whole scenario planted a seed. I should have avoided putting myself, putting her, in that kind of situation. Normally, I can maintain objectivity. But this time... with Kono – I don't know."

Danny pursed his lips and cleared his throat. "So, now what?" he asked, not really wanting to push Steve further.

"It doesn't matter really, no matter how I've come to feel about her" Steve said. "We move on. She only sees me as a boss, colleague and hopefully, friend."

"But, you can't know that for sure. You haven't even asked her."

"And I won't ask her, Danny. Trust me, she was completely disinterested in my suffering that night. She was embarrassed for herself and worried about the repercussions. I don't really blame her," Steve said. He was trying to illustrate to Danny, that there couldn't be any residual feelings, on her part, anyway.

"Have you ever thought that maybe she was trying to maintain professionalism as well? I mean, running up to you and fawning all over your boo boos, just isn't her style. And do you want that? If Kono was like that, really?"

"No," Steve answered, truthfully. He unbuckled his seat-belt as they pulled into his driveway. "I suppose not. But it's better this way, Danny," he said as he got out of the car.

# # #

A/N: Thanks to all of you who are hanging in there and still following along. I hope you all had a great Independence Day! _Loco_ – means crazy in pidgin (referred to as 'bird' in the show) too.


	8. The Next Step

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

Thanks once again for the reviews and comments! I hope I'm still entertaining fellow Steve/Kono readers.

Chapter 8 – The Next Step

# # #

Honolulu Harbor  
>Oahu<p>

"Bomb!" "Go, go, go!" "Get down!"

The explosion that erupted from the ship container, caught all 5-0 team members off guard. The tip that they received regarding a lost shipment of crystal meth from one of Medieros' goons looking for a deal out of Halawa Correctional had to be taken seriously and had to be investigated.

In the outcome, Chin found himself banged and bruised but alive. Danny and Kono were far enough away that they remained unhurt by the explosion. But Steve, ever the hero, took the brunt of the modest explosion. Danny swore that he saw Steve flying through the air as he was thrown from the blast, blocking the majority of it from Chin as they ran for cover from the container.

When Honolulu PD's Bomb Unit investigated moments later, they informed Danny and Kono that the blast could have been worse. A connector was missing that downgraded the detonation, tenfold.

That last fact had Kono shaking and convulsing with the gravity of the situation.

"Hey. Hey, don't do that, you're going to _implode_. Chin's going to be fine, you saw him," Danny said.

Kono glared at him. She shook her head and dry heaved on the sidewalk, bending at her waist and gripping her knees. She bit back tears of anguish and anger. Somewhere in her head, a voice reasoned with her - Danny was just being a friend.

"Uhm, sorry. Bad choice of words." His tone softened with regret instantly as he realized his attempt at levity was way, way too soon. Danny walked up to her and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. He led her to a patrol car so that she could lean against it and collect herself.

Kono refused to look Danny in the eyes, knowing somehow that doing so, would give away more of what she was feeling. She sucked in a breath and continued to study the patterns of the pavement. "I know, Cuz'll be fine but - Steve? Danny, he was unconscious."

The detective sighed heavily and moved to lean against the patrol, next to her. "I know, honey. But he'll be okay, alright? Paramedic's have taken him and Chin to the hospital, we'll go there and check on them. Okay? But right now, we've got to focus."

Kono gulped and nodded. "Okay," she said, sniffing and bracing herself. "I'm sorry."

Danny admired her bravery and was touched, but not at all surprised at how affected she was about Steve's condition. "You're fine. It's understandable," he assured her. "Just, don't hold it in like that, you know? You can talk to me."

She nodded again. "I just got worried, Danny."

Danny chuckled and straightened, indicating that they needed to wrap things up and get going. "A beating from Chin doesn't worry you but getting blown to bits does." He shrugged as he rubbed a comforting hand along her upper arm. "Makes sense."

Kono quirked a brow at him. "What does that mean?" she asked, not quite liking the knowing look Danny was giving her.

He smirked and walked off, not bothering to answer her question.

# # #

Straub Hospital  
>Honolulu, Oahu<p>

Steve felt, or rather heard something - a pair of voices, but he was unsure what they were saying. Darkness was threatening to hold him down again and he felt too out of it to fight it.

"_You can keep trying, he should be up by now."_

His head hurt, severely. His eye lids felt heavy and he found himself struggling to move and motivate himself to wake up. He felt so leaden and only had a hazy recollection of how he got this way.

"_Steve, c'mon, wake up."_

A murmur kept urging him out of the darkness. It was soft and melodic and it kept talking to him, saying his name. Steve drifted in and out of hearing that voice, but something told him to keep pushing himself towards it.

Then he was suddenly aware that a hand was on his chest, gently shaking him awake.

He dragged his hand up, fumbling to find and hold the hand to him. It was definitely female - with small, delicate fingers that flipped over so that he could intertwine them with his own. He held on firmly and wondered, no, hoped that it was a certain team member that was urging him to open his eyes. He kept trying, though the pain in his head continually throbbed and his lids felt sealed with cement.

He needed to see if it was her.

"_Steve." _She said his name once more, motivating him, sensing his struggle to join her in the conscious world.

When he finally opened his eyes, he felt an intense amount of relief to find Kono hovering over him. He squinted and tried smiling to convey how pleased he was to see her. Her fingers tightened around his and he squeezed his back in reassurance. Kono smiled in return, not bothering to hide how happy she was.

Maybe he was wrong and she did care about him that way.

But the pain in his head had his eyes growing heavy again. He felt her other hand rest lightly on his forehead as she let her fingers slip into his hair. Steve found himself enjoying how intimate her touch was. Her fingers curled and she tugged lightly on his hair as his eyes opened once more to focus on her.

"You do that again and I will personally kick your ass," she said in a whisper.

Steve smirked then. "That so?" he asked back, his voice hoarse.

"Oh, you better believe it," she answered, openly studying him. His face still bore yellowing, greenish remnants of the events of a week and a half ago and now this.

Steve looked confused. "What'd I do?"

Kono quirked a brow, realizing that he of course he would have trouble remembering, given his concussion. "You ran into the shipping container after Chin and dragged him and yourself out just seconds after seeing the bomb. You were so lucky. It's amazing that you both dodged the full extent of the explosion."

"Chin?" Steve stiffened as he suddenly remembered the events that transpired earlier in the day.

Kono, gently forced him to calm down. "He's fine. No, he's better than you really. He didn't bonk his head like you did."

"Hmm. _Bonk?_" he said as he relaxed, a quirk of the brow and a faint smile on his lips. He heard Kono snort softly. Then he remembered that they were all there.

"Danny?"

"Talking to the nurse," she responded.

"Nurse?"

Kono chuckled at his one-word questions. "You're at Straub," she explained.

"You?" he asked then, really looking at her.

"Me, what?" she asked back, her voice low and soft.

Steve let go of her hand and reached up to gently touch a small cut that he just noticed, on her cheek. "How are you doing?" he asked again as he brought his hand back to his chest, once again claiming her hand.

"Better, now that I can you look you in the eyes," she answered. "I meant what I said, don't take risks like that," she cautioned. "I will kick your ass."

Steve sighed and blinked slowly. "No promises," he said, smiling a little.

Kono shook her head sadly. "You're so stubborn."

"You said that before," he said, now with a lopsided grin.

"I meant that too," she said, tugging lightly, once again on his hair.

"Chin's okay, that's what matters," he reasoned as he smirked. He watched as Kono rolled her eyes, but nodded in acquiescence. "When am I outta here?"

Kono straightened and removed her hand from his forehead. "Tomorrow, according to Danny."

"Danny?" he asked, incredulously, missing the feel of her hand immediately.

She giggled. "He made a deal with the doctor, since he figures you'll try to weasel your way out of here in the middle of the night."

Steve's brow furrowed. "Is he going to guard me all night then?"

Kono shook her head, a small, shy smile on her lips. She cleared her throat. "No. I am."

"Good," he said, trying to appear nonchalant. Secretly, he was more than pleased.

"Yeah?" she asked, arching a brow.

He stared at her. "I like you more and you're prettier to wake up to," he answered, honestly.

Kono snorted softly and smiled. "I need to check in on Chin," she said as she squinted back at him playfully. "I'll be back later."

Steve nodded and watched as Kono stood and hesitated next to his bed. He realized that he didn't really want her to go and he sensed that she didn't want to either. She brought her other hand up and used both hands to give his, one last squeeze before turning and leaving his hospital room.

# # #

When Danny entered Steve's room a half and hour later, he found his partner resolutely ignoring his vibrating iPhone that rested on the hospital nightstand.

"Uhm, you could hit 'ignore,' Steven," Danny advised as he came up next to the bed to glance at the caller ID. He noted that it was Catherine. "Or, you could just let it go – I guess?"

Steve looked at him and rolled his eyes as he sunk further into his pillows, closing his eyes. "It's her, right?"

"_Her_ as in Catherine? Yeah," Danny shrugged. "What's the deal? Nice to see you awake by the way," He added as an afterthought with a slight snort as he watched Steve open one eye to glare at him.

His partner blinked, pinched the bridge of his nose and sat up, readjusting his covers. Shaking his head slightly, he smirked, then said, "she's probably just calling to claim her stuff."

Danny opened his mouth to comment but thought better of it. The vibrating had stopped and he crossed his arms across his chest to study his partner. "_Claim her stuff_?" he asked.

"Yeah, she left some essential stuff, that she'll probably want back when she gets into port," he answered tiredly. He finally picked up his iPhone to show Danny the little red number that indicated that a message was left for him. "Don't act all innocent, Chin said you pull that stunt all the time with Rachel."

"Okay, yes," Danny admitted, gesturing and starting to pace along side Steve's bed. "But she's my ex-wife, I kind of... wait a minute," he said, stopping and turning to face Steve. "You, guys aren't -" he started, as it dawned on the detective.

"What, Danny?" Steve asked, interrupting. He grunted and closed his eyes briefly against the pain building his head.

The action did not go unnoticed by Danny, who asked, "hey, you need something? Doctor said you would have the mother-of-all headaches for sometime."

"No. No, I'm fine. Thanks Danno," he said tiredly.

Danny huffed slightly and crossed his arms across his front again. "Serious concussion, you can handle. Talking to the ex-girlfriend, you can't?" He inwardly felt like a parrot, having said something similar to Kono, earlier in the day.

Steve shook his head. "Yeah, well, the next time you dodge a phone-call from Rachel, you can bet I won't let that go."

Danny laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he noted that Steve did nothing to protest Catherine's new moniker. "Fair enough. You okay though?" he asked, not masking his concern for his partner.

"Other than the headache and being kept here overnight against my will, yeah," Steve answered with a slight shrug.

"Oh don't even - you were unconscious for sometime, okay? Alarm bells went off, and just to be safe, you need to stay here. For just one night," he raised an index finger to punctuate the severity of it. "Just in case. You're a big boy, put on your big boy pants and deal with it," he cracked.

Steve shook his head, chuckling softly. "Shut up, Danny."

Danny grinned. "Hey, by the way, genius? I wasn't just referring to you playing 'Superman' earlier today, I was asking about your thing with Catherine."

"Uh, oh that." He exhaled loudly and leaned back. "Funny, how all this time, you think that maybe you were the one not being exclusive with your feelings and then you discover that it happens on both sides. In truth, it turns out we were both behaving badly."

The blond detective ran a hand through his hair and gazed at his friend. "Huh. So..." he said, jutting his hands out.

"It's done," Steve said, matter-of-fact. "I'm okay. Thanks, Danny."

Both men nodded to each other.

"No problem," Danny responded "Anything else?"

"Yeah, what happened today, anyway?"

Danny shook his head and marveled at Steve's u-turn from personal to business, but then again, it was most likely a result of his concussion. _Nah._ "It was a trap, obviously. Medieros' man that told us about it, got shanked shortly after we found the container and the explosion went off."

"Sonofabitch," Steve swore. "Who was his contact outside?"

"Another one of Medieros' men that wasn't at the club. We pulled records of calls made out of Halawa by the stooge and tracked down the address of the last goon that could have detonated the bomb. Found a butt-load of incriminating evidence, bomb related and otherwise – mostly in the form of more ice."

"You got him?"

"Yeah, HPD and SWAT moved in shortly after we identified him, he admitted to everything," Danny explained. "I think we may be finally done with Medieros." He looked at the clock next to Steve's bed. "Listen, uh, I need to go -"

"You gotta go pick up Grace?" Steve asked.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, uh, otherwise I would stay and force you to stay in that bed."

Steve snorted. "Thanks, but I have a feeling your presence would only add to my already aching head."

"What? Hey. I take offense to that, babe," Danny objected, jabbing a finger mid-air for emphasis.

Steve laughed then, leaning back and closing his eyes briefly before looking at Danny again.

His partner cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets. "So listen, in the absence of cute nurses and myself, I think you'll be happy with the substitute."

The prone man quirked a brow. "Oh, I already know. And believe me, she's a much better alternative to you."

Danny exhaled, chuckling in the process. "I ah, figured." He nodded. "And you were wrong you know."

"About what?" Steve asked, jutting his chin out towards Danny.

The New Jersey-an gave him a smug smile. "About how you said, she didn't care about you that way."

Steve looked away momentarily, but brought his gaze back to Danny. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. You were unconscious and on your way here, so you didn't see," Danny explained.

"Is that so?" A smile tugged at the corners of Steve's mouth.

Danny shook his head and chuckled again. "Yeah, so don't blow it, alright? Okay?"

Steve grinned. "I won't."

# # #

A/N: So this may be getting old, but you all realize by now what a sloooooowww writer I am. Job, miscellaneous RL stuff keeps me from focusing on my fics. I sincerely appreciate everyone who has hung in there. _lynnrxgal_ – I have to say, I dunno if it's a good thing to get such a strong reaction from you, but it helped to propel my writing, for sure. _Froggie2, _s_ammie28 – _so loving the insightful commentary. _amblue36, MyGeekSide-101, Tomcatall2001 –_ thanks for the support and encouragement, and for just plain reading my fic.


	9. The Chance for Happiness

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

Thanks to those still following this story. Especially those who took the time to comment/review the previous chapter: amblue36, sky, Froggie2, lynnrxgal, sparkerius, Seaweed, MyGeekSide-101, .glee, sammie28 and aqiran! Also a big thanks to those added alerts and faves!

Chapter 9 – The Chance for Happiness

# # #

Straub Hospital  
>Oahu<p>

As Chin and Kono stood outside of the hospital waiting for Danny to give him a ride home, the older cousin found himself studying the younger one. She seemed lost in thought but content to keep him company and comforted.

"I'm okay, you know," Chin pointed out. He sported a few minor cuts here and there, a scrape on his chin, a bandage above his right eye, one around his left elbow and another around his right forearm.

Kono smiled at him sheepishly. "I know, Cuz," she said. "You scared the crap out of me though."

Chin tilted his head and smirked. "Oh really? You sure it was me and not McGarrett?"

She rolled her eyes and he laughed at her.

"It's okay, Cuz, you don't have to answer that one. I have a feeling I already know anyway," he said, grinning.

Kono crossed her arms in front of her. "Hey - Chin, I was really worried about you too, you know that," she responded to his teasing.

Chin's grin softened into a smile. "I know, thanks Cuz. But there's a 'but' isn't there?" he asked as he tilted his head.

"_But_ – I guess I was a little thrown off," she answered with a nod.

"How so?"

Kono's gaze studied the driveway in front of them, buying her sometime to formulate her answer. "I didn't expect to react the way I did. I mean seeing _you_ walk away with the paramedic was a relief. But, seeing Steve unconscious, not responding, not waking up to Danny or me or any of the EMTs – scared me more than I could've imagined."

"And why is that, you think?" Chin asked, a sly smile on his face.

She shook her head. "The obvious and appropriate answer would be, he's the Boss, it's not unexpected to be concerned about his well being."

"But the answer your heart wants to give, is?"

Kono studied Chin then, both appreciative and annoyed at his inherent ability to know her so well. "I got scared because, I guess – I've come to care for him so deeply."

"But it's more than that, Kono. Isn't it?" he asked, prodding her along.

She wasn't biting. "What makes you say that, Cuz?" she asked back, arching a brow.

Chin exhaled loudly. "Look, it may have not been obvious to you or him, but it was to me and Danny," he pointed out. "When you two worked the Medieros case, you guys didn't just 'slip up'. Your behavior towards each other, during the moment, was clearly a latent attraction and connection that you guys have had from the beginning."

Chin found himself shaking his head as he recalled the day he brought Steve and Danny to the beach to meet Kono for the first time – in her bikini. In hindsight, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to meet in such a way.

He looked at Kono and smirked. "It just took all these months working together and a case that you guys had to work so closely on, to make it known."

"Gah, Cuz. Really?" Kono shook her head. "Why does it sound like you've thought about it?"

"Because I beat the crap out of our Boss, that's why," he answered. A cooling Hawaiian breeze blew through the entrance of the hospital. Chin watched her and shrugged.

She snorted softly and shook her head again, her bangs ruffling slightly from the wind. "Now what?"

"Now I go home and you go back to his room to keep an eye on him and maybe you'll figure it out. Because you need to and because, deep down, you know being with him is what you really want," Chin instructed with another smirk.

"And afterward, if I tell you 'it's none of your business', you won't have cause to question?" she asked smirking back.

Chin conceded with a nod and chuckle. "No, I won't. Danny thinks you're perfect for each other, I guess. I'm not going to stand in the way of that."

# # #

Kono entered Steve's room to find him asleep. The nurses at the station stopped her on the way to his room prior, to tell her that he had undergone a CT scan at his doctor's orders and Danny's urging. She had to shake her head. Danny appeared to be more mothering than her. In any case, Steve was fine - no fractured skull. He did indeed have a hard head, and he would only be under observation for just the one night, but the headaches and fatigue would probably last for another week.

Moving to sit in the chair at the end of the bed, she found herself admiring his features as he slept. So lost in her musings of his rugged features that she failed to notice that he was awake and now admiring her in return.

"Hey, you," he said.

Kono smiled. "Hey, how's the head?"

"Throbbing," he answered as he closed his eyes briefly against the pain. "Why are you so far away?" he asked, quirking a brow.

She chuckled as she picked up the hospital chair to move it closer to his bedside. "Better?" she asked.

Steve nodded his head from side to side. "Better. But I can think of another place for you to sit," he said with a rakish grin, waggling his eyebrows.

Kono shook her head and laughed. "Whoa, Boss, you really hit your head, hard, huh?"

Steve laughed out loud. "Okay, if you want to attribute it to that," he said, still grinning. He cleared his throat. "Kono, thanks for staying, really."

"Of course, Steve," she said, shrugging and leaning back into the chair.

"Danny's gonna sleep good tonight, knowing you're here to make sure I stay put," he added.

"I'm not here just for Danny," Kono said. "You know that right?"

Steve shrugged.

"Seriously?" Kono asked. "Seeing you unconscious like that – I'd never been so freaked out before. I was pretty scared for you, Steve."

"You were?" he asked, disbelieving.

Kono nodded. "Yeah."

Steve sank a little into his pillow as he watched her. "Why? I mean what was the difference between me getting my ass handed to me by Chin and me getting caught in an explosion?"

"A lot, Steve," she said, her voice low and serious. "Chin would never have let it go so far as to hurt you _that_ badly. An explosion, no one could have controlled the outcome. Especially because the outcome could have been much worse. A shit-ton worse," Kono said, trying hard not to choke on the emotions that were unexpectedly threatening to overcome her.

Steve could tell the possibility of things turning out differently deeply disturbed her and he immediately regretted asking her. "Hey. Hey, Kono. I'm okay, look at me. I'm fine, aside from the bump on the head," he said, trying to reassure her. He gave her a lopsided smile, hoping to comfort her.

Kono gulped and nodded, staring back at him.

"Huh."

"What?" she asked.

"You do care about me," he said with a sudden, sly smile.

"I never said I didn't," she said smirking. She turned her attention to her hands and wrung them before speaking softly. "If something worse happened to you, I would be inconsolable."

"Really?"

Kono sighed at how clueless Steve was. "Yeah, okay? So don't go getting murdered or anything, serious like that," she said, half smiling and rolling her eyes.

He chuckled. "Uh, okay, I'll make it a point then - to not do any of those things. On one condition," he added, shaking his head.

"And what would that be?"

"That you don't go and do the same thing," he replied, looking at her.

"To quote you – _no promises –_ but I'll do my best, Boss," she said with a nod and another smirk.

Steve chuckled and shook his head.

Then, as if remembering something, Kono asked, "hey, you don't uhm, need to call anyone do you?"

Steve arched a brow. "Are you fishing?"

"Hmm? No more than you were earlier. Besides, I was just thinking maybe you need to call Mary or something," she explained, struggling to look innocent.

"Right," Steve said, drawing out the word. "You're not referring to Catherine?" he asked, finding Kono's expression extremely cute.

"No. Not at all, but if you need some alone time to make a call to her, I can go," Kono said, pointing towards the door, making to stand.

Steve started laughing again, waving a hand towards the chair to encourage her to sit again.

"What?" she asked back, confused, but settling once more into the chair.

"I'm not calling Catherine, anymore," Steve answered. "For anything other than Intel, if I can help it."

"Since when?"

"Since right after we worked the Medieros case. I realized I wasn't being fair to her," he explained, his expression turning serious.

"Oh. Because of what happened that night?" Kono asked, swallowing noticeably.

"Yeah," he said. "And, what didn't happen – that I wanted to," he admitted, watching her closely for a reaction.

Kono blushed, shook her head and looked down at her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry, Steve. I didn't mean for you and Catherine to -"

"I'm not sorry," he interrupted, ducking his head to capture her gaze. "That undercover op, opened my eyes to something I've been trying to avoid since the day Chin introduced you to Danny and me at the beach."

Kono leaned back into her chair and eyed Steve.

"And, I failed miserably at it. I can't and won't ignore it anymore," he said, shrugging, sounding as if he was making a promise.

She studied Steve some more and could tell by his determined expression that she was in trouble. There was no going back now and she was pretty certain that she didn't ever want to. "Is that so?" Kono asked as she arched a brow. She smiled inwardly.

"Yeah," he said, smirking and chuckling softly. He reached out to take a hold of Kono's hand and they grinned at each other.

The rest of the night was spent sharing stories about family, watching TV and Steve griping about hospital food. Which was followed by Kono eating most of it before making a late night run to the vending machines to get him a snack.

When Steve awoke the next morning, he found his arm wrapped possessively around Kono's shoulders. She snuggled against him, as best as she could while still in her chair, her head resting on his chest. He felt her stir and gave her shoulder a squeeze as she brought her face up within inches of his own.

"Hey," Kono mumbled sleepily.

"Hey, yourself," Steve murmured back. His free hand came up to caress her cheek and he smiled in wonder as Kono leaned into his touch. "I would really like to kiss you right now," Steve whispered.

"You sure you want to do that?" she asked, softly.

Steve gazed into her dark brown pools and nodded. "I've been wanting to do it for sometime, actually."

Kono smirked and chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "Then, I don't really know what you're waiting for," she breathed.

He smiled as he pulled her closer. "Me neither," he said as he tilted her face up and claimed her lips with his own.

# # #

A/N: Almost done here. Working on another series of H50 ficlets, stay tuned! Oh, and of course they'll be KoVe centric.


	10. The Future of Us

Inevitable

Summary: A case leads way to impulsive behavior from Steve and Kono. KoVe centric fic.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own H50.<p>

This chapter is short and pure fluff, IMHO. But I wanted to write/post it anyway. Thank you all for following along.

Chapter 10 – The Future of Us

# # #

Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett's House  
>Oahu<p>

By the time Steve got back home from his jog up Diamond Head, he knew he was running a little late. He jumped in the shower immediately, not bothering to forewarn his impending visitor of his tardiness. But shortly after washing his hair, he stuck his head out of the shower and heard a faint knocking. _Shit._He grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist and he made his way downstairs. Making sure to peek through the peephole first, he smiled before swinging the door open.

Kono's shocked expression and fist raised mid-knock made Steve's smile grow wider.

She cleared her throat. "Gee Steve, you answer the door like this for all the girls?" she asked with stunned smile, gesturing to his half-naked, damp appearance.

"No, just the for the one I'm in love with," he said, now grinning as he grabbed her around the waist to pull her in.

Kono let him and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders as he dipped his head to kiss her deeply. Turning to shut the door behind him, Steve held Kono tightly to him as he continued to explore her mouth with his own.

"Hey," he said, when he finally broke away.

"Hi," she said in return, breathless. She dropped her arms, so that her hands rested on his forearms.

"So, I'm a little late, I guess," Steve said as he continued to hold her close.

Kono chuckled and shook her head. "I can see that. What's on the agenda today anyway?"

Steve shrugged. "I don't know, I thought maybe you'd want to go and listen to the Salvation Army Band play at the Kapiolani Band shell? We could grab some food for a picnic and then head over to the beach after?" he asked quirking a brow.

Kono nodded. "Sounds great, what time is the show?" she asked as Steve dipped his head to kiss her neck.

"In an hour or so," he murmured against her warm, vanilla scented skin.

"So, we have some time to kill?" she asked.

Steve stopped kissing her neck to look at her. He was sure he heard a hopefulness in her voice. "Yeah, what are you suggesting?" he asked back.

"Hmm?" she asked innocently as she stepped away. And then she smiled mischievously as she arched a brow. "Nothing really - unless, you count this," she said, grabbing hold of the towel around his waist and whipping it off with a flourish. She dropped the towel, laughed at his shocked expression and bolted up the stairs towards the bedroom. Steve stood stock still, in his birthday suit, momentarily taken off guard by her lasciviousness. He ran up the stairs after her, chuckling and almost missing a step as her sundress came flying down to hit him in the face.

# # #

Wailoa Shave-Ice Stand  
>Ala Moana Beach Park, Oahu<p>

"Eh! Next time I tell you guys we giving away free shave-ice as a promotion, no need fo' tell everybody, okay? I meant only for the people out there on the beach," Kamekona said, gesturing out towards the Pacific Ocean. "No need fo' you guys to text every cousin and friend you guys have on the island. Otherwise, you both fired. You hear me?" he asked rhetorically, as he threatened his employees with a shake of his fist.

The two young girls giggled and shook their fists back at him playfully.

"No lie, Uncle." "Yeah, you wouldn't do that." "It's just ice." "He bettah not! Or else I going tell Auntie Darlene." "Yeah, she would give him lickin's if he did fire us."

Kamekona felt himself getting a headache as he watched his employees chatter back and forth.

"Enough! Get back to work! I swear, _I'll _tell Auntie Darlene myself, if you two don't shut-up," Kamekona huffed.

"Ho Uncle, no need be all grumpy like that," the eldest of the two said.

"Get back to work, I said. Fo' real!" he exclaimed, gesturing widely.

"Kamekona?" Steve asked, cautiously as he stepped up to the service window. His expression clearly indicated that he had heard all, if not most, of Kamekona's ranting.

The Hawaiian turned around quickly to regard the owner of the voice. "Eh, howzit my haole braddah!" he said, suddenly smiling and jolly as usual.

Steve looked perplexed at the big man's instant shift of mood.

"No worry, I always get like this. They're my cousins, always acting up. But really, this place wouldn't run half as good without them," he explained conspiratorially. "Just don't tell them I ever said that," he added, looking over his shoulder to make sure that he wasn't heard.

Steve chuckled then, shaking his head as he pulled out his wallet.

Kamekona looked around Steve and noticed Kono sitting at one of tables waving at him. He winked at her and then quirked a brow at Steve.

"What can I get you?" Kamekona asked curiously. "Since you don't appear to be here for work," he added, as he glanced quickly to Kono once again.

A grin from Steve probably gave away more than he intended, so he busied himself by looking down at his wallet. He shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Uh, one grape and one strawberry-banana cone," he said, ordering Kono's favorite and a cone for himself.

The way their big friend started laughing and shaking his head, showed that he was no fool. "One grape, one strawberry-banana," he called back to the two girls. He pinned Steve with a look, crossing his massive arms across his stomach. "I thought you said, you would never bring her here on a date?"

Steve laughed then. "I never said I wouldn't bring her here _after_ a date, did I?"

# # #

Hilton Beach-Walk  
>Oahu<p>

Steve and Kono strolled along the sand, hand in hand. The sun was setting before them, sinking slowly behind the boat harbor up ahead. Tourists were leisurely making their way off of the beach, gathering their belongings on their way back to their hotel rooms.

They glanced at each other and smiled. A couple of months or so had passed since Steve's hospitalization and the two of them coming to terms of the depth of their feelings for each other. Ever since then, when not working on a case, they took every opportunity to be together. And, as new as they were, Steve became certain of a number of things.

First, that Kono could take care of herself – and that he didn't have to worry so much about her. Even though, he still did. Second, was that he couldn't imagine his life without ever knowing her. Third – and this was the most surprising to him, since he never felt the same way about any other woman that had come into his life before – was that he never wanted to be apart from her.

Stopping, he tugged lightly on their intertwined hands to get her to face him.

She quirked a brow before his lips descended onto hers. Feeling her smile, he pulled away to fully look at her.

"You remember that day we raced out here, to that building over there?" Steve asked, pointing over to the hotel tower with huge rainbow mosaic on the side of it.

"Yeah," Kono answered, nodding. "I threw the race."

Steve chuckled and shook his head. "So did I."

She shook her head and quirked a brow again. "C'mon, really?"

"When have you ever seen me stumble so much? I'm a SEAL, I'm as surefooted as they come," he said, grinning.

"Oh, whatever, Steve. Seriously?" she asked unnecessarily, in total disbelief.

He laughed.

She shoved him and glared at him playfully. "Are we gonna have to get the guys to referee another race?"

"Wouldn't matter," he said as he reached for her to pull her close, his arms wrapping around her. "I'd still win."

"You're so dead, or maybe in the dog-house. Which would you choose?" she asked, laughing, as she endured his hug. Truthfully, as they stood there, she was pretty content to endure anything and everything with Steve. And the best part of it was - she was certain that he felt the same.

Steve studied her, drinking in her beauty. "I would choose this," he said quietly as he pulled her close again to kiss her passionately.

The End.

# # #

A/N: Mental image of Steve, wet, glistening and naked popped into my head one day and so I decided to share. Also, I love Kamekona, he's just so fun to write! So I wanted another scene with him. Apologies however for not bringing Chin or Danny back one last time.

A/N 2: Thank you to everybody (for reviewing/commenting, adding fave/alerts, encouraging and inspiring) – rice117, amblue36, Froggie2, annaliesegrace, loveoverduty, cdnyellowrose, sphekie, CaffeineKiddo, zebraboymom, Mary, sammie28, hoellenwauwau, givemeaname, JJandDerekMorgan3341, Ray08, Miss Mon, Neevy, Ashley, theravenclawquill, Mariedan, Seaweed, Princess-Of-Yahweh, casandrashepard, mdemp92, shirik, francis2, East Coast Captain, lynnrxgal, Druid Archer, runrunrun, sparklingsince1918, , MyGeekSide-101, DaReelDeel, stevekono, Tomcatall2001, sky, sparkerius, aqiran, reallifeglee and anybody I may have missed. You all keep me going – seriously.


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